-Only Three of the Top 10 States with the Most Tornados From 1980-2009 are in Tornado Alley- CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) , a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today released a new tornado and hail risk report that analyzes the risk associated with changing tornado and hail weather patterns outside of the narrow corridor in the U.S. Midwest traditionally known as "Tornado Alley." The report, entitled Tornado and Hail Risk Beyond Tornado Alley , discusses the impact of record-breaking hazard events across the country over the last year for insurance companies and homeowners, and provides greater insight into the extent of severe tornado and hail risk in geographic regions far beyond the Great Plains states. "The extensive destruction wrought by convective storms in 2011, which produce hail, strong winds and tornados, captured the attention of the public and forced many insurance companies to rethink the way they assess natural hazard risk," said Dr. Howard Botts, vice president and director of database development for CoreLogic Spatial Solutions . "The apparent increase in the number of incidents and shift in geographic distribution of losses that occurred last year in the U.S. called the long-held notion of risk concentration in Tornado Alley into question, and is leading to changes in risk management policy and procedure." Tornado Alley is typically considered to encompass mainly the Great Plains states and surrounding areas, spanning Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois. For that reason, many of the severe weather events that occurred outside of the Midwest in 2011, like the "Super Outbreak" of tornados that devastated much of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and even Virginia, were seen as an anomaly. According to CoreLogic, however, historical data suggests that the frequency and severity of storms is much more widespread than commonly believed. Among key...

BofA Allows Some Homeowners to Rent, Avoid Foreclosure Bloomberg Bank of America Corp., the second- largest US bank, started a program this week to allow mortgage borrowers facing foreclosure to stay in their homes as renters while transferring title back to the lender. The pilot program, dubbed "Mortgage to Lease," ... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

by Nancy Welsh, Builders of Hope NHC invites guest blog posters to write on important housing topics. The views expressed by guest posters do not necessarily reflect those of NHC or its members. Vacant, foreclosed homes in the United States have been abandoned and left to languish. At the same time a dearth of affordable housing has left Americans-many of whom are college-educated, working-class people-struggling to put roofs over their heads. More than a third of Americans spend more than 30 percent of their pre-tax household income on housing related expenses including rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, insurance and homeowner association fees, and in 2009, 19.4 million American households spent more than half of their yearly incomes on housing. Facing a housing cost burden often forces families to make sacrifices when it comes to other necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. There is a serious misconception that affordable housing is just for people who are destitute or living below the poverty line. Prior to the housing market's collapse, there was already downward pressure on affordable housing. However, the housing crisis has exacerbated the situation and the situation continues to get worse. According to recent Census data, from 2000 to 2010 the nation's median income fell by 7 percent to $49,445. In addition, in the third quarter of 2011, the national median market-rate rent was reportedly $1,004, up from $981 a year earlier, while the national rental vacancy rate declined to 9.8 percent, down from 10.3 percent in 2010. We have millions of people in need of affordable housing and millions of units of vacant housing available. Policymakers fantasize about tearing down as many as 3 million vacant and foreclosed homes in an effort to jump-start the housing market, but it's imperative that we recognize these homes as valuable assets. It would be a critical mistake to tear them down. Instead, it's time...

BARFOSKY ON MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT. Former SIGTARP Neil Barofsky tells Bloomberg TV that the notion of banks getting credit for forgiving deficiency judgments would be comical if it wasn&#8217;t so tragic. Matthew Stoller asserts that the settlement marks a change to America&#8217;s system of property rights based on political power. For the full video, please [...]

Bernanke Tells Students Fed Not Responsible for Housing Bubble Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank&#39;s policies last decade weren&#39;t responsible for the housing price bubble that led to the recession. "Some have argued that the Fed&#39;s low interest rate monetary policy in the early 2000s ...

AMI&#8217;s concerns about the National Mortgage Settlement are discussed in the following Real Clear Markets article. March 22, 2012 The MBS Investor&#8217;s Case Against the Mortgage Settlement By Anthony Randazzo Mortgage-backed securities investors are starting to boil over with righteous indignation after details on the $25 billion national mortgage settlement emerged last week. The settlement confirmed that they [...]

Two mortgage brokers in Georgia became instant millionaires after successfully suing banks for defrauding military veterans in Veterans administration home loans by hiding unallowable fees in mortgage documents.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh today discussed efforts underway to harmonize U.S. regulatory requirements with international standards during testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Payday Lender Political Donors Hidden in Corporate Names Bloomberg Of all the names disclosed as donors to Restore Our Future, a political action committee supporting Mitt Romney, some stand out for how little they reveal. RTTTA LLC of Provo, Utah, is one of four corporations created by auto-title and payday lenders ...

Insurance Upstart Signals U.S. Housing Rebound: Mortgages Bloomberg Reports of the US mortgage- insurance industry&#39;s demise have been greatly exaggerated. NMI Holdings, a new home-loan guarantor, has hired investment bank FBR &amp; Co. (FBRC) to help it raise $550 million after record homeowner defaults felled three ... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

Big Spending at Fannie, Freddie Should End, Auditor Tells FHFA Bloomberg The days of big spending on conferences and charity are over at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the companies&#39; regulator should make sure it stays that way, the auditor of the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in two reports released today. and more&nbsp;&raquo;

Despite high-profile measures such as the Greek debt deal and mass pumping of liquidity into the banking system, Europe's problems have merely been delayed for another day, Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, told CNBC.

Founded in 2004, Mortgage News Daily has established itself as a leader in housing news, analysis and data. Our innovative social media platform combines industry leading content and data with an active community of industry professionals, to accomplish our primary goal - keeping our readers informed.